[knitting] Scrappy Handspun Octopus

I made another toy from the scrappy handspun yarn:

The pattern is Common Octopus from Hansi Singh's Amigurumi Knits book. I used my handspun for the body and tops of the tentacles and Knit Picks Brava in a brick color for the bottoms of the tentacles.

It was a well-written and fun pattern. The tentacles are quick to do, joining isn't so bad, I inserted craft pipe-cleaners to the tentacles to make them poseable. I use safety eyes from my stash and whip-stitched the mantle to the base, which isn't so noticeable since I'm using a multicolored yarn. If I were using a solid color for the body, I would take the time to properly and invisibly graft the two pieces.

I introduced the octopus to Penny:

It really took a liking to her...

And you can see that she loves it, too!

Penny, my always-happy-to-oblige model.

[crochet] Owl

Another Christmas gift for my niece:

Pattern: Owl Henriette (available on Rav, not free but well worth it- clear instructions, lots of variants shown)

Yarn: Leftover bits and bobs of this and that in the stash

I always say I'm going to make more amigurumi but when I look at all the pieces:

I think, "Yeaaahhh... I don't want to sew all that stuff together." But it really only takes an hour of dedicated whipstitching to pull it all together. And it's pretty forgiving; things can be a little crooked and it will look more cute and homemade.

The only other things I needed besides yarn for this project were white felt (for the eye background) and black safety eyes.

He (she?) can even stand up, which is nice:

Very cute and very soft (they grey yarn has a decent amount of angora in it). I have a little pile of Ewok pieces that need to come together... eventually.

[crochet] Turtle Pieces

Dollar and I are Secret Santa to one of his nephews this year. I asked what the boy is in to and his mom said "Ninja Turtles". Unsure whether or not this means the old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the cartoons I grew up with or the freaky live-action ones from the recent movie, I decided to go with classic TMNT.

If I never see green yarn again, ugh. Why I decided to make all four, I don't know.

The first head and body I made are riddled with mistakes- the torso is inside out, unnecessary slipped stitches, lumpy filling, etc. The prototype is Donatello, though, and I reasoned, "He's the scientist of the group, so he wouldn't mind being the guinea pig. He would prefer it to be that way. I'm sure." 

I'm nearly done with the arms (which look like a cross between a pickle and green piece of poop), then on to the shells. And bellies. And all the accouterments like arm bands and knee bands and belts and... That might be it. I hope that's it.

[crochet] Jellyfish

Pattern is from Amigurumi Toy Box. I used leftover pink worsted yarn in my stash. It turned out a bit too flesh-colored for my liking.

The only change I would make to the pattern is to make the top flatter- more hamburger bun shaped. There were a couple rounds early on where you didn't increase and this kind of created a torpedo shape to the top. Before the frilly skirt and tentacles were added, it just looked like I crocheted a single boob.

For the long tentacles in the center, I just used single strands of yarn- which I think looks more delicate.

Now... what to do with it. Right now it just looks like a sad, beached jellyfish. I feel like it should be hanging up somewhere. 

[crochet] Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

How to make a PB & J Sandwich. Get two slices of bread:

Apply jelly to one slice, peanut butter to the other:

Close sandwich and enjoy:

But don't eat it!!

This turned out to be a very cute sandwich. The Lopi yarn I used for the bread makes the sandwich a little... hairy. But it serves. I plan on making other fillings to use with this bread (tomato and lettuce, cheese and sliced meats, etc.).

[crochet] Eggs and Bacon

Some eggs and bacon that I made this weekend:

Pattern: Eggs and Bacon from Tasty Crochet

Yarn: Scraps

Hook: D

I just finished a big shawl and I wanted some fast, easy, small, stash-busting projects to work on. Tasty Crochet has LOTS of cute patterns. I'm going to make as much crocheted food as I can, then give it out to nieces/nephews for Christmas.

Poor Dollar was just waking up Sunday morning and asked me, "What have you been doing this morning?" I said, "Making bacon." His eyes got wide and he looked really excited/hopeful. When I showed him the wooly crocheted bacon, he got really sad. Aw :(

[knitting] Holy Hand Grenade

It's done! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch:

I would like to do more (in particular- sew some pearls on) but I'm calling this done so it's not hanging over my head anymore.

The pattern is free on Ravelry: Holy Hand Grenade. I knit this using gold and silver yarn that I bought at White River Yarns. 

The pin is removable- which isn't how the pattern is written but I felt that a removable pin was a must:

It's an extra large safety pin that I sewed the cross to. You need to have a removable pin so that you can pull it, count to three (One... Two... FIVE!) and throw it at whatever killer rabbit is attacking you.

The chest is an unfinished box that I bought at Michael's and stained in a dark walnut color. I also glued a few gold squares around the lock and brass circles to the ends:

Just to dress up the box a bit.

The red fabric is a crushed panne that I got a Joann's. I was prepared to spend way to much on a pure, rich velvet but saw a little roll of red in the remnants bin- and it was perfect. And $2.79.

And I got red flat-backed rhinestones and slightly smaller clear ones to glue all around the silver straps. I used E-6000 glue, which is supposed to be good for fabric, wood, metal, anything and dries to a clear rubber. The rhinestones are holding on really well.

So. Done. Love it. Nailed it. Hope I don't ever have to use it ;)

[knitting] EEK! A mouse!

A mouse in the house!!



Oh wait, it's okay. I made this one:



Pattern: Catnip Mouse by Mare Smith. The pattern is called "Silken Braid Mouse" on Ravelry.

Yarn: Small amount of leftover Encore Worsted in gray.

Needles: US 5

Mods: None, really. I didn't make the tail long enough to knot and I didn't add whiskers because it's cute enough as is. The pattern is great- knit in one piece and then seamed shut. The cables are clever, the eyes and ears are clever- just a great pattern. I would like to make TONS of these to use up leftover scraps of yarn.

I picked some fresh catnip outside to rub all over the outside of the mouse:



Then let Murderface take the toy out for a test drive:



Looks like it's MF Approved. What does Santana think?



Looks like she approves as well:



In fact, I'm not sure where this toy is now. I better get started on making more...

[crochet] Safety Cones

Careful! When we have an accident in the house or need to avoid an area, we now use tiny safety cones:



That's a panda I'm making- he still needs arms and legs and ears. I had him safely inside the safety cones.

We've also been putting the cones on the floor- around his food area. And I marked out a clear path to me:



But Murderface wouldn't come.

[crochet] Penguin

Hidden in the Icy Pillow Caves of Upstairsistan...



A Penguin!



Pattern: Amigurumi Penguin. Free pattern from Lion Brand online, but you need to sign up for a free Lion Brand account to access it.

Yarn: White Encore, Black Wool-Ease, mystery gold yarn from my stash.

Hook: US E

I am loving these adorable little amigurumi. The only downside is that there's a lot of sewing.

I used 9mm black safety eyes for this guy, whereas I used 6mm ones for the lion. I ordered various safety eyes and noses from the shop 6060 on Etsy, so I have lots to make plenty of amigurumi.

[crochet] Leo the Lion

If you're very, very quiet, you might catch a glimpse of the newest amigurumi I made:



He's very shy and likes to hide in his throw pillow cave. But I was able to lure him out:



He looked left:



He looked right:



Then he ran back to his cave:



Pattern: Little Amigurumi Lion from Lion Brand's Easy Crochet Critters

Hook: US E

Yarn: Leftovers of Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair (body) and Rowan Lima (mane). Used black safety eyes. Little bit of Frog Tree Alpaca Sport in brown to embroider nose, mouth, whiskers.

Note: Poor Leo is hearing-impaired. And by that, I mean "stone-deaf"; I didn't make him any ears. Maybe someday he'll go under the needle for a pair but I'm too busy crocheting up other adorable little things.

[crochet] Sushi

I recently learned at a family dinner that Dollar's niece, who wasn't even three-years-old yet, likes sushi. I wanted to craft her some and I've been interested in amigurumi style crochet for a while. I ordered a slew of books from Amazon, one of which was Yummi 'Gurumi. I made these adorable little crocheted pieces of sushi:



The egg nigiri with the seaweed around it is actually from Tasty Crochet. I liked the look of this egg nigiri better.

The nigiri was easy to make- I crocheted the white rice base and stuffed it. I did 4 rice bases, then crocheted the different tops.



Left to right: Egg, Shrimp, Salmon, Tuna.

These were so much fun to make and I was able to use yarn from all the scraps I've accumulated over the years.



That tuna roll, though- the round one on the end? Total pain in the ass to make. Start with bit of deep purple, switch to white, switch to green and do half of the height of the roll. Make another, same as the first. Sew in ends and sew them together, insert stuffing, finish sewing. It was little, fiddly, too many ends (12!!!) to sew in.

Instead, I crocheted a long, 7-stitch strip, starting with minty green, then lots of white, then seaweed green. Then I rolled it up and sewed it shut. Perfect Cucumber Roll. And only 6 ends to sew in. I made 4 of these rolls.

Anyway, I don't have a picture of the final sushi platter- Dollar's sis stopped by and since I missed his niece's birthday, I quickly handed over the plastic to-go container. From what I hear (and a picture I've seen), the niece loves it. And I can't wait to make more food to give as gifts.